The Exorcism of Emily Rose did way better than anyone expected this past weekend, grossing $30.2 million according to studio estimates. That makes it the third-highest September opening ever, and the 15th-highest of the year so far. Rory Bruer, president of distribution for Sony Pictures, tells the Associated Press: “The movie cost us less than $20 million to make. We would have been very happy had the picture opened to $15 million.”
I am reminded of this bit from my interview with writer-director Scott Derrickson last month:
Marcus Nispel, who directed the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, can make anything he wants now, because the movie was very — I loathed the film, but it was a very, very well-made, very well-crafted, very cinematically explosive movie made for very little money, and of course it made $75 million or whatever it was, so when Hollywood saw that, they saw him as a director who had tremendous skill. So he’s off to bigger and better things.
Not to make Derrickson nervous or anything, but now that his film is giving the Chainsaw movie (which opened with $28.1 million on its way to a cume of $80.6 million) a run for its money, I’m eager to see what sorts of “bigger and better things” lie in his future!
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